Healthy Living Recipes

Deb Morgan: In midwinter, fresh, garden-picked veggies are still a distant dream for us Berkshire natives. So what better time to pull out the potatoes and frozen corn and make an old favorite! Try these two versions from our new Kripalu Seasonal Menus: Fall and Winter recipe book.

Make the turkey filling:
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Add celery and sauté for another 5 minutes. Stir in thyme, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Stir in ground turkey, breaking up any clumps, and sauté until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Add corn and sauté until it is heated through. Transfer mixture to casserole dish and set aside.

Make the potato topping:
Place potatoes in a medium pot and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cook until a fork slips through potatoes easily, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and place in a large bowl. Set aside.

Heat the milk, butter, and garlic in a pot over medium heat. Simmer gently for 5 to 8 minutes until heated through and fragrant from the garlic. Remove garlic cloves and discard. Pour the heated soy milk over the potatoes. Use a potato masher to work in the milk and mash the potatoes until they are your desired consistency.

Assemble and bake the pie:
Spread the mashed potato mixture over the turkey mixture in an even layer. Bake at 350 degrees until potatoes are golden brown on top, 30 to 35 minutes.

Make the lentil filling:
Heat the Earth Balance in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the celery, corn, allspice, thyme, salt, and pepper, and sauté a few more minutes.

Add the lentils and 4 cups of stock (or water). Cover and increase heat to medium-high. Gently simmer the lentils, stirring occasionally. Check lentils frequently and add more stock as needed to keep lentils from drying out. Most likely, you will use all 8 cups of stock, but sometimes lentils can be sensitive or stubborn so it is best to add stock a little at a time. Cook until lentils are soft, with very little liquid left in the pan. Transfer to a casserole dish and set aside.

Make the potato topping:
Place potatoes in a medium pot and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cook until a fork slips through potatoes easily, 10 to15 minutes. Drain potatoes and place in a large bowl. Set aside.

Heat the soy milk, Earth Balance, and garlic in a pot over medium heat. Simmer gently for 5 to 8 minutes until heated through and fragrant from the garlic. Remove garlic cloves and discard. Pour the heated soy milk over the potatoes. Use a potato masher to work in the milk and mash the potatoes until they are your desired consistency.

Assemble and bake the pie:
Spread the mashed potato mixture over the lentils in an even layer. Bake at 350 degrees until potatoes are golden brown on top, 35 to 40 minutes.

ReadAnnie Kay’s Nutritional Commentary: Four and Twenty Nutrients Baked in a Pie.

Comfort food and good health need not be mutually exclusive. If you are aiming for both, take this month’s recipe along on your journey.

Many studies suggest that white meats such as turkey are less likely than red meat to form N-nitroso compounds in the large intestine. N-nitroso compounds are associated with colon cancer and other cancers. Remember, when it comes to eating animals, you eat what they ate. Eating meat from healthy animals that were fed what nature intended and offers significant health advantages over food from animals not as well raised.

Potatoes are high in fiber and rich in nutrients like vitamin C, carotenoids, flavonoids and patatin, a tuber protein with antioxidant activity—making them excellent protection against cardiovascular disease and cancer. Onions are one of the richest sources of cancer-fighting polyphenols. One of these, the flavonoid quercetin, is concentrated in the outer layers of the onion, so try to peel away as few of the outer layers of usable onion as you can. Celery is rich in vitamin C and phthalides (not to be confused with toxic phthalates), which may lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Corn is a heart-healthy vegetable rich in fiber, B and C vitamins, and magnesium. And we need more time and space than we have here to give the allium garlic its due. Garlic is rich in sulfur-containing compounds that bestow cardiovascular, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and anticancer benefits.